Four Questions

How should arts and culture being recognized, in the discourse on cities of the future (smart or otherwise)? Why is it necessary to have a cultural perspective in the global smart city discourse?

Artistic and cultural practices are highly valuable for the smart city. In the contemporary discourse smart cities recognise high importance of positive experiences of citizens which are stimulated by bright and memorable emotions through social events and visual perception and benefit greatly from cities’ cultural and visual identity, which are products of artistic and cultural practices. Smart city invests in maintaining the cultural life and creative class by offering suitable city conditions and benefit in city development learning from creativity and design thinking of its citizens.

How should/can we talk about smart city and urban transformation beyond technology and infrastructure?

We should consider that smart and technically sustainable infrastructure is just a city interface. What make a city smart is sustainable and valuable for life usage of this interface. Therefore, we should learn more about citizens experiences and needs to adjust the interface and city governance accordingly.

What is the connection of arts and cultural practice and technology in (future) urban societies?

Technology offers the data about processes in a city, optimization strategies, and sustainable buildings and mobility solutions, while looking for ways to apply technology and utilize city recourses for the best human city experience is the creative practice.

Please share your expert prediction or utopian view of the city of the future.

In a city of the future, the interplay of physical and digital realities and activities- not facilities-based management of the city infrastructure offer human-centred use and allow easy adaptation for changes. Society recognizes the positive impact of creative practices of utilizing the city areas, artistic clusters and communities, value historical and cultural places, and prioritize them over economic benefit developing urban areas.